My Chinese WAKE away
STIRRED ODION IN DREAM MOVE
ODION IGHALO admits he was sleepless in Shanghai as he thrashed out his dream Manchester United move.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s desperate search for a striker was finally completed when United secured a lastminute deal with Shanghai Shenhua to sign the 30-year-old Nigerian on loan until the summer.
“It was very dramatic,” said the exWatford star. “My agent called me the day before and said, ‘Man United?’
“A few other clubs had shown interest. I said, ‘Please, just pick United, if it’s going to be possible’.
“At 11pm in Shanghai, my agent called me that United wanted to do the deal, so I woke up that night and started looking for a translator to go to the directors’ room and hit his door.
“They started talking. I didn’t sleep throughout that night, because the transfer window was going to end at 7am Shanghai time.
“So, from 11pm, there was paperwork, negotiating for the loan deal. Other teams are calling them, wanting me, but I told my agent that this is what I want.”
Ighalo said he brushed off warnings from his agent that a move to United would mean a pay cut.
He added: “I told him, ‘I don’t care. Make this deal happen. I want to go to United. I don’t care how much is the pay cut, I know that, make it happen.’”
The deal was finally completed just an hour or two before the transfer deadline.
“I was so excited,” said Ighalo. “I called my mum and she was happy, crying.”
Growing up in Lagos, the striker was a childhood United fan and he revealed how he would often watch matches with as many as 50 people crammed into one room.
“When we were young, back in Nigeria, we used to watch the Premier League on TV a lot, when the likes of
Andy Cole used to play. People support Man United a lot back there, so I developed that love, because all of my siblings are Man United fans.
“I’m really proud. I never thought this was going to happen, but dreams do come true. This is going to be a big and good challenge for me in my career.
“Even the street I grew up on, they are doing parties, celebrating Ighalo signing for United.
“They sent me the video, I was just laughing and happy. Some of them are supporting some other Premier League teams but they said because of me, they are moving to United.”